Opening covers on Switchboards and Switchgears requires Cat 4, I'm sure many of you have done it...How about doing it an a hot pump station on a summer day!!! Maybe I'm crazy, but I feel that wearing Cat 2 will make this task safer as I have less of a chance of fainting into an open gear while reading the settings or unbolting the cover.Using tables is great, but we still can't confirm clearing time ahead of the data collection in most cases.What do you wear?

We have a plant in Trinidad. They wear Category 4 gear when it calls for it. And I've done it lots of time, too even working in the South. It's aggravating and hot. But the easiest way to do it is to don the gear, open all the doors you need to open, and then take it back off.

If it is really bad, you can buy cooling vests. There are two types. One basically contains pockets that hold cold packs. The other type is a vortex cooler that uses compressed air. I've tested both in a foundry (floor temperatures can get over 120 F) and they work quite well. The cold pack stuff is good for about an hour or so. The vortex cooler works all day, but you do have the extra hassle of pulling an air line around.

The other key is acclimation. It takes several days to acclimate to working in a different climate condition but it can be done and is your best defense against heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Unexpected and emberassing interaction. Had company's electrician remove cover of older equipment to collect data. I asked to make sure it was not interlocked - I was pretty sure it might have been. He assured me it was ok.

Read 70E carefully. Visual inspections do not involve interactions with the equipment and thus pose little to no arc flash hazard. Opening the doors themselves however is a different story. So you suit up, open all the doors you need, dress down, do the inspection, suit up again, close everything up. We do it all the time. "Dress down" usually means just stripping off the hood or face shield so it's no big deal.

So while doing the study on a QMB I can suit up, open all the doors, suit down, read the fuses and wires, then suit back up to shut the doors? How is the only dangerous part (Arc Flash wise) opening the door? Don't get me wrong, if this is good information then I am grateful for it!

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